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Fargo Assembly closing area locations

Fargo Assembly Company is reportedly closing three plants in Edgeley, Ellendale and Lehr.

The 43-year-old wiring harness manufacturer has two more plants in Fargo and one in Lisbon.

“It’s true that we are closing,” said Mike Johnson, manager of the Fargo Assembly plant in Ellendale.

The plants are tentatively set to close sometime in August, he said. However, the closings are based on completing current orders which could push the work into September or October, he said.

“But closing will be the end result,” Johnson said.

After 42 years of ownership Ron and Mary Alice Bergan sold Fargo Assembly in 2017 to Electrical Components International of Creve Coeur, Mo., he said. The company was recently sold or taken over by an investment firm, he said.

“Since then the decision was made to close the plant but the time frame is not for sure and there is a lot of work to do,” Johnson said.

Fargo Assembly is listed with the North Dakota secretary of state as C T Corporation System in Bismarck, a registration agent service that is used by out-of-state owners to register companies in North Dakota.

Joseph Neis, the city auditor of Edgeley, said he was in contact with the local Fargo Assembly plant and learned of the closing announcement. He said the workers were informed on Thursday that the plant would close at the end of August.

“They employ 40 to 45 people, pretty much full time,” Neis said. “My wife works there part time.”

Around half of the workers live in Edgeley, a city of around 550 people, he said. The closing will definitely have an economic impact on the community, he said.

The company is an assembly line for electrical wiring harnesses and connectors that are used in industry, construction, agriculture and motor vehicles, he said. The work involves various machinery and splicing machines, he said.

When the plant announced the closing Neis said the workers were told that jobs would possibly be available at the Fargo Assembly plant in Lisbon, which he was told would remain open.

Fargo Assembly also owns companies in five states and in England.

Calls to the Fargo Assembly plants in Edgeley, Ellendale and Lehr were referred to Michele Hastings, controller and finance manager of Fargo Assembly in Fargo. Calls to Hastings were not returned.